TORONTO – The Broadbent Institute has announced that United Steelworkers International President Emeritus Leo W. Gerard is the recipient of the 2019 Ellen Meiksins Wood Prize.
The Wood Prize, awarded annually in honour of the late, internationally renowned scholar Ellen Meiksins Wood, recognizes the outstanding contributions of an academic, labour activist or writer.
Leo Gerard’s decades-long service to the trade union movement and contributions to social and economic justice in Canada and around the world are just some of the reasons why he is the newest recipient of the Wood Prize. Gerard will deliver the annual Ellen Meiksins Wood lecture in Toronto in early 2020.
“It’s an honour to receive this prize from the Broadbent Institute and to deliver this lecture in memory of Ellen Meiksins Wood,” Gerard says. “Ellen’s focus on the power of working people is what progressive politics needs at the moment. At a time when more people – particularly young people – are disenchanted with the current economic and political system, we need to rebuild our movement muscles. We need to re-connect working people with their democracies.”
Tomorrow is Election Day in British Columbia and there’s too much at stake for Steelworkers to sit this one out. Across our province, working families are facing real challenges. Forestry communities are fighting to protect jobs and keep mills running. Mining workers need stronger safety protections and training. Canadian jobs are threatened by outsourcing, and […]
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